Jazz Icons Conquer Europe
Saxophonist Dexter Gordon saunters off a Holland street and onto a small club's stage, where he wryly introduces and then performs a sizzling "Night in Tunisia." Gordon's is just one of the mesmerizing performances captured on the second series of seriously wonderful Jazz Icons DVDs released by Reelin' in the Years Productions and Naxos Records. The seven new volumes are devoted to John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck, Sarah Vaughan, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and Wes Montgomery, in addition to Gordon, and were filmed in Europe between 1958 and 1966. Much of this footage has never been seen before; most of the albums include a few different dates, sometimes filmed years apart; and all were shot in vintage black and white. Even the liner notes are better than average. Who wouldn't want to read Pat Metheny on Wes Montgomery? Or Darius Brubeck on his father, Dave?
Every volume suggests historical import. In Germany in 1960, Coltrane was playing, perhaps somewhat reluctantly, with Miles Davis's quintet sans Miles; a year later, Coltrane returned with his own band and genius in full flight. From the "Black and Tan Fantasy" that opens Duke Ellington's 80-minute 1958 Copenhagen concert to the 11-minute "Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue" that closes it, both audience and band seem tuned into the same exuberant vibe (stick around after the credits and watch the band members pack up their instruments at show's end). And Wes Montgomery comes off as an immensely patient leader as he banters genially and teaches his material to three different, fresh rhythm sections in 1965. It's long been a cliché that American jazz stars received more love in Europe than at home. The Jazz Icons series almost proves it.